Memes- What do you think of them?
This week my Facebook feed has been flooded with "memes"- in this context, they are
graphics with large text in front of a related illustration. While some memes make general observations or pop culture references in order to be understood by the masses, the pictures that have been popping up on my page are inside jokes.
It seems that every university has created a meme page in the past week (that is, a page created by a student, not the college itself). It's just a way to satirize daily life- whether it's about some dorm having bad tasting water, or a specific department having the worst teachers.
I have to say, I find a lot of them funny, even ones I can't completely understand (they aren't directed at me anyway!) But more substantively, I fear it could be a tool to express opinions and argue, replacing prose with strawmen and pseudo-intellect. Less substantively, it can get pretty annoying after seeing the same joke over and over.
What does Ricochet think of these? Have you seen them? Do you find them funny?
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Comments:
Re: Memes- What do you think of them?
I hate them. I'm tempted to start unfriending anyone who posts them from here on out.
Re: Memes- What do you think of them?
I'd probably save time by just deleting my Facebook if I were to unfriend people.
On second thought the real problem is that people are "liking" the memes, not posting them.
May '10
Re: Memes- What do you think of them?
Simple.
Re: Memes- What do you think of them?
In my mind, they're like advertisements or billboards: for the most part, they're annoying and obtrusive, but every once in a while there's one that I can't help but smirk and appreciate its cleverness.
I do agree that there's been a bit of an overload though. They remind me of when Facebook went through its bumper stickers phase a few years ago, so maybe this will be another flash-in-the-pan fad that will only occasionally pop up down the road.
Oct '11
Re: Memes- What do you think of them?
I find memes interesting, since they are kind of an exercise in Irony : try to represent an idea with few words and an image. Kind of like newspaper comic strips.
They can be annoying, and I sometimes indulge on make a meme picture of my own from time to time. Like anything in life, it is about not making it obnoxious.
One that has been on lately is the ''what you think you do'', which is funny because in my university we are making some to vent mid-term frustration.
Nov '10
Re: Memes- What do you think of them?
Samuel, that "what you think you do" began as a trickle on my FB about ten days ago; now it's a flood. Some of pictures make me smile a little--some are clever and apt--but I never quite get the clincher, the "What I actually do." I think "Huh? What is that supposed to mean?"
My sister posted one that was full of images of people beating dead horses. That one, I understood.
I like the artfully presented quotes. I had been wading through borrowed quotes FB, was tired of reading all that text, and the new pretty graphics make them more appealing to me.
Feb '11
Re: Memes- What do you think of them?
My FB is lame, I dont get any of these sporty meme things. :-(
Re: Memes- What do you think of them?
I agree that there are similarities to both advertisements and comics (I personally think the comic one fits best).
Although on second thought, a billboard that catches your attention is not too dissimilar to a graphic that catches your eye on the internet (low-attention spans!)
I see the "what I actually do" things most often. Or the dinosaur.
Re: Memes- What do you think of them?
I think they're funny. They are short and usually can garner a quick laugh from me.
Feb '12
Re: Memes- What do you think of them?
Some of them are funny. I quite like the invisible-something series with cats.
I don't like memes that are just Daily Show style snarks. I agree that those are ways of avoiding the issue. The "privilege memes" would fall into this category.